Schumacher: Melbourne no guide to form

The five-time world champion took pole in Melbourne and could have won the race had he not damaged the underside of his 2002-spec car running over kerbs. He believes that this, and the unpredictable weather at the start of the race, contributed to his relatively lowly finishing position, rather than the introduction of new regulations designed to spice up the racing.

"We have a reasonably good chance of winning," Schumacher told his website. "We have a rather good record in Malaysia and we're looking forward to extending it. The old car is competitive in terms of reliability and performance.

"The fact that we will use it again in Malaysia could turn out to be an advantage because the conditions there can be extreme and it's good to have a car you know everything about.

"Australia was just one of those races with a series of unpredictable events, notably the rain and the phases with the safety car. It does not mean that we are no longer competitive. We were competitive. Such things just happen and you have to accept it."